Groups seek tougher rules on pesticide drift

Published online on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009

A coalition of advocacy groups is asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for stronger regulations to protect children against drifting pesticides.

The groups -- including Pesticide Action Network, United Farm Workers union and California Rural Legal Assistance -- plan to file a petition with the EPA today.

The groups want to strengthen the EPA's rules for pesticide use, especially in rural communities, said Heather Pilatic, communications director for the San Francisco-based Pesticide Action Network.

"The EPA has not done enough for people in rural communities, the farmworkers and their children who are the most susceptible," Pilatic said.

The groups are asking the EPA to adopt no-spray buffer zones around homes, schools, parks and day-care centers for the most dangerous and drift-prone pesticides.

EPA officials said they will fully evaluate the new petition, and if risks of concern are identified, the agency will do what is necessary to protect the public.

Also, the EPA is reviewing its approach to determine whether stronger protections are needed on pesticide labels to protect against spray drift. The agency expects to announce its decisions on spray drift label language this year.

A 2007 study by the Pesticide Action Network found evidence of potentially harmful levels of pesticides in the air near South Woods Elementary School in Hastings, Fla.

Of the four pesticides discovered in the air, two are classified as neurotoxins.

Pilatic said the Pesticide Action Network plans to offer testimony in December during an EPA hearing on pesticide drift.

The EPA is reconsidering the criteria used to trigger an assessment of exposure from inhaling pesticides that "volatilize." Volatilization happens when a pesticide changes from a solid or liquid to a gas or vapor after being applied.